


magic, mistakes, and memories

by sleepingincemeteries



Category: Assassination Classroom
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Magic, Alternate Universe - Time Travel, Alternate Universe - Witchcraft, Don't Judge Me, Gen, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, crack??, gakushuu in 3-e, gakushuu's mother is a bamf, no beta we die like men, witch is gender neutral
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-20
Updated: 2020-08-25
Packaged: 2021-03-06 02:15:00
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 8,347
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25995832
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sleepingincemeteries/pseuds/sleepingincemeteries
Summary: When asked about it, Gakushuu would say that it wasn’t, in fact, his idea. Rather, it was Karma’s. That’s only partially true. Karma had mentioned time travel and asked him if it was possible. Gakushuu laughed it off but his brain was stuck on the idea, and when Gakushuu sets his mind to something, it normally happens.Or Gakushuu accidentally travels back in time four years.
Relationships: Akabane Karma & Asano Gakushuu, Akabane Karma/Asano Gakushuu, Asano Gakushuu & Class 3-E
Comments: 23
Kudos: 148
Collections: Time Travel and World Travel





	1. Don’t drink and use magic. You’ll wake up in the wrong time period.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> mistakes are made

When asked about it, Gakushuu would say that it wasn’t, in fact, his idea. Rather, it was Karma’s. That’s only partially true. Karma had mentioned time travel and asked him if it was possible. Gakushuu laughed it off but his brain was stuck on the idea, and when Gakushuu sets his mind to something, it normally happens. Fast forward several months, to Gakushuu, partially drunk (he can’t actually blame his father for that one, it was his idea to get them drinking) (actually, no, he can blame Gakuhou for allowing his eighteen-year-old son to take shots) and murmuring spells and calculations under his breath. He must have passed out (he was less sober than he thought) and when he awoke, he was in his bedroom. 

Only it wasn’t his bedroom. His bedroom had more posters on the walls and he’s fairly certain that his walls haven’t been white in years. And his desk had more papers on it. Only, the room had the same layout as his bedroom, only his bed was pushed into a different corner. He looks up at the ceiling. The glow in the dark stars that he put on a few years ago are gone. And his clothes are different. He hasn’t worn slacks in years. 

A phone alarm blares through the room and he checks his pockets, where his phone was last only to find it wasn’t there. He spots it on the desk and turns it off. He checks the date. April fifth. So he slept for a day. 2015. Gakushuu turns the phone off then turns it back on. Same date. 

“Holy fuck.” He laughs. “It actually worked. It actually worked.” He runs his hand through his hair. “Karma won’t believe it.” He goes to call him only to realize that he didn’t have Karma’s number in his phone (he had it memorized) and they hated each other at this time. “Fuck.” 

A knock at his door causes him to jump. “Dinner is ready. Your father requests your presence.” 

Gakushuu curses but fixes his hair and opens the door. Tamako is standing in front of the door, a soft smile present on her face. Gakushuu holds back a double-take when he sees her. It had been years since she left the employment of their household. He follows her down the stairs, snagging a pen and paper from his father’s office as he does so. He sits down across from Gakuho who’s ignoring him in favor of his laptop. Fine. Gakushuu pushes his plate to the side and starts writing on the paper. 

He writes down the calculations that he remembers as well as what spells he recalls casting before passing out. Five minutes later, he looks up to see Gakuhou looking at him cooly. 

“Aren’t you going to eat?” His father asks. 

“Not hungry,” Gakushuu brushes him off and goes back to the diagram he was working on. He feels Gakuhou’s eyes on him and scribbles down a few more calculations. He catches himself biting his nails (a bad habit he picked up from Karma) and looks up once more to see Gakuhou still staring at him. “Yes?” 

“Since when did you bite your nails?”

Fuck. “I don’t.” Gakushuu resists the urge to run his hands through his hair in frustration, another thing he didn’t do four years ago. Or now. He looks back to his paper and curses softly in Latin when he realizes that he doesn’t remember enough to get back. Forgetting that Gakuhou is there, he crumples up the paper and shoves it into his pocket. “May I be excused?” 

Too late he realized that his father has closed his laptop and is leaning forward, trying to peel Gakushuu apart with his eyes like he’s a puzzle he can’t quite get. “No. When did you learn Latin?” 

Three years ago when you finally let me study magic. “Not long ago.” 

“What’s on the paper?” 

“A project. May I be excused?” 

“You haven’t eaten.” 

Gakushuu takes an apple from the center of the table and without breaking contact with Gakuhou, takes a bite. “I’ll be in my room.” 

He stands up and moves towards the door when Gakuhou speaks up. “I don’t remember you being so rebellious. Or knowing magic.” 

Gakushuu pauses at the doorway. “Don’t be ridiculous. Magic doesn’t exist.” 

“Asano.” 

Gakushuu turns around. “Yes, Principal?” 

“I will not tolerate such behavior in the future.” 

Gakushuu bites back a snarky retort and instead says, “Of course.” And leaves before Gakuhou can pry anymore. 

Once back in his room, he opens a notebook and begins his calculations anew, cursing himself for getting drunk and not remembering what he did. 

* * *

His alarm goes off at the ungodly hour of 5:30. Gakushuu blinks in surprise before turning it off. He had stayed up all night trying to get back to the future. He goes back to his work. Half an hour later, someone knocks on his door. 

“Come in,” Gakushuu calls out, tugging at his hair as he pulls his knee to chest. His nails have been bitten back and he’s in the same clothes as he was at dinner last night, minus the tie and his sleeves rolled up and shirt unbuttoned slightly. Papers clutter the desk and several are taped to the walls. On the ceiling, he placed cut out stars to match where his previous, or future, ones were. 

“You do remember what day it is.” It’s not a question but Gakushuu jumps once he hears his father’s voice. He checks the time. 6:07. He has two hours before school starts. 

“Of course.” He spins his chair around and sits up straight. 

“I trust you won't embarrass yourself by arriving late.” Gakuhou raises an eyebrow and Gakushuu resists the urge to throw his pen at him. 

“Yes.” Gakushuu stands up and straightens his shirt, trying to subtly kick some papers under his desk. Gakuhou, the asshole, notices and raises an eyebrow. They stare at each other, neither wanting to break eye contact first, it’d be admitting defeat. “Unless you want me to change in front of you…” 

“Breakfast is downstairs.” With that Gakuhou turns to leave and Gakushuu relaxes slightly. “And clean up. It’s embarrassing to see this room in such a state.” 

It’s not your room asshole. “Of course.” Gakushuu closes the door behind him and grabs his middle school uniform before heading to the bathroom for a shower. He hadn’t noticed last night, but he had the same build as he did four years ago (now?) (time travel is very confusing), meaning he shrunk several centimeters and still had the slight baby-face all middle schoolers have. He let out a groan when he realized that if he didn’t get back to his time, he’d have to go through high school again. 

He took a quick shower, dried his hair, and put on his uniform and went downstairs. He went straight to the kitchen and started a pot of coffee and pulled out his phone. He downloaded a game and started mindlessly playing it, waiting for the coffee to finish. Once it does he pours himself a large mug and starts a second pot. He walks into the dining room where his father is flicking through a newspaper. In the back of his mind, Gakushuu thinks he fits the stereotypical dad image but then remembers who his father is and the image quickly dissipates. They eat breakfast in silence and Gakushuu’s coffee is finished before Gakuhou’s, who notices, of course, but says nothing. 

Gakuhou leaves for school and Gakushuu follows by himself, headphones in but playing no music. Instead, he’s doing his best to recall what happened the first week of school so he doesn’t mess up the timeline more than he inevitably has. He can’t remember much besides the usual confessions from first-year girls and the occasional second or third-year transfer student. He makes a mental note to stop by the grocery store and buy salt (you can never be too cautious and he’s pretty sure his father would be even more suspicious if the salt that they did have at home went missing suddenly. He should also clean up his room. If his strange, sudden need for the stars on his ceiling wasn’t suspicious enough, he was actively practicing magic. And while Gakuhou wasn’t as attuned to it (especially being almost nine years out of practice), Gakushuu knew that it wouldn’t take long for him to notice. And then there was the whole thing with class 3-E this year. Gakushuu contemplated moving down to the End Class as it would give him more time to find a way back then realized that his father might actually disown him and quickly discarded the idea. Either way, until he could get back to his own time, this would be a very interesting year. 

* * *

Gakushuu was by no means a genius. He wasn’t able to master martial arts in three days (something his father never hesitated to tell him about) or earn multiple degrees and licenses over the course of a weekend, nor did he have an eidetic memory. But he did have a father who could be considered one and tried to make Gakushuu one as well. (He failed, seeing as Gakushuu was only human, but he had managed to produce an incredibly smart perfectionist who could challenge him on occasion.) (Their talks over dinner never ceased to amuse Gakuhou.) 

If there was one thing Gakushuu could brag about being better at than his father, it was magic. (Granted that his mother could beat them both without any effort.) Magic is hereditary, so Gakushuu inherited most of his magical prowess from his mother. Only he did not know that he had magic until he was fifteen. His parents had divorced when he was six. (His mother claimed it was because Gakuhou was a hard ass and too focused on his educational philosophy rather than his own son and Gakuhou claimed it was because she was getting too caught up with bad people and Gakushuu should not be raised in that sort of environment. Both were accurate.) And after the divorce, Gakuhou all but banished all magic from the kingdom. Gakushuu often laughed and compared him to various fairy tales to which Gakuhou threatened to hex him and Gakushuu told him he didn’t have the ability nor the resources. Inevitably it turned into an argument that was stopped only by a phone call or dinner. 

Anyways, at age fifteen, Gakushuu found a trunk full of his mother’s old books and trinkets in the attic and brought it up to his father who told him to call his mother who promptly showed up at their doorstep the next day with several suitcases full of magical items, sat Gakushuu down, and taught him all about his magic. It was in those first few weeks that Gakuhou locked himself in either his bedroom or office, only coming out when his supply of alcohol ran out. Jacklyn never hesitated to annoy the shit out of him when he did and Gakushuu tried to ignore their blatant flirting and the fact that they still had feelings for each other. (He did end up sneaking out of the house when he caught them in the midst of a passionate make-out session to avoid being scarred for life.) (When he explained why he showed up at two am to Karma’s house, said red-head proceeded to laugh his ass off and leave Gakushuu pouting on his couch as he struggled to catch his breath.) (“It’s not funny, Akabane.” “You’re right, it’s hilarious.” “You’ve obviously never had to witness your parents trying to find the back of each other’s throats.”) Jacklyn decided to move in once again without officially telling either of the other two Asanos. It was nice, even if she was only there, at most, four or five months out of a year. (Plenty of time for Gakushuu to figure out a spell to soundproof the walls, however.) 

Those months that she was home, she spent teaching Gakushuu everything she knew. (“You went slower when you were teaching me.” “Full offense, but you have way less magic than Gakushuu.” “He’s fifteen.” “Exactly, I’m many years too late.” “I was twenty-four.”) It wasn’t long before Jacklyn declared him a full-fledged witch, told him to find a familiar, gave him all her books, and moved out again. Gakushuu knew it was because she had ties with the Yakuza and probably the Mafia as well and didn’t want to risk either of them getting caught up in it but that didn’t mean he wasn’t sad for several weeks. Then a few months later, Karma mentioned time travel and got Gakushuu into this whole mess. Really he can blame it on his father if he really wants to, he’s the one who decided that magic was useless and didn’t tell Gakushuu about it. This left Gakushuu with a problem. 

Most of his knowledge came from the books his mother gave him, books he didn’t have access to currently. Yeah, no. That was a pretty big problem. 

* * *

Gakushuu manages to make it through the first day of school without gaining any more suspicion from his father but immediately goes to the attic and takes out the trunk. When he’s dragging it to his room, Gakuhou walks up the stairs. They stare at each other for a solid five minutes before Gakuhou asks him what he’s doing. 

“Redecorating.” 

Gakuhou raises an eyebrow but turns and walks back downstairs. Gakushuu exhales and drags the trunk inside his room, shutting the door behind him. He mutters a small incantation and the lock pops open. He opens the trunk and coughs at the dust. He sets about separating the books from the broken feathers and candy wrappers. 

“Honestly Mom, couldn’t you have been a little neater?” Gakushuu mutters under his breath, scanning the titles of the books and silently cursing when none of them contain what he’s looking for. Several hours later, he goes downstairs for dinner, muttering a quick spell to get rid of the dust that he’s sure his father would notice and reprimand him for it. 

Dinner is an awkward affair, to say the least. Gakushuu doesn’t want to address his strange behavior and Gakuhou is currently trying to figure out how his son found that trunk. Only once they finish their meal does Gakuhou speak. “What were you doing in the attic?” 

“I was looking for some new books.” 

Gakuhou raises an eyebrow without physically doing so. “In the attic.” 

“Yes.” 

“Did you find what you were looking for?” 

“No.” 

They stare at each other. Tamako says goodbye and they hear her leaving through the front door and her car driving away. “How did you get into the attic?” 

“I climbed the stairs.” 

“I thought I locked them.” 

“Well, you must have left it open on accident.” They both know it's a lie, Gakuhou doesn’t make mistakes (except for Gakushuu but even Gakuhou will admit that Gakushuu isn’t in fact a mistake when drunk. Very drunk.) but neither say anything. 

“Your mother called today.” 

Gakushuu can’t conceal his surprise, this didn’t happen last time. “She did?” 

“She asked if you were planning on spending the summer with her.” 

“She’s never asked before,” Gakushuu notes. “Did she say why she was asking?” 

“Just that she wishes to spend more time with you.” 

“I’ll spend the summer with her. Don’t worry, I’m perfectly capable of keeping up with my studies.” Gakuhou purses his lips slightly. 

“Very well. I trust you’ll call her.” The _I-don’t-want-to-talk-to-her-again_ went unsaid. 

“Did she say where she was currently?” 

“Somewhere in Europe, I believe. France.” 

Gakushuu nods and stands up. “Good night Principal.” 

Gakuhou watches as his son leaves, wondering why his son looked so surprised to hear that his mother called and invited him to spend the summer with her, just as she had in years previous, only a few months earlier. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so i dont really like how the interactions between gakushuu and gakuhou are working but i dont know how to fix that so enjoy the awkward interactions! this chapter is sort of an intro i guess and my writing style might change in later chapters. 
> 
> feel free to yell at me on [Tumblr](https://sleepingincemeteries13.tumblr.com)


	2. The one thing Gakuhou is afraid of.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> jacklyn

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> in case it wasn't obvious before, this story will include major spoilers, mentioning stuff that is mentioned at the end of the series. so if you've already watched or read all of assassination classroom or if you don't mind the spoilers, read on.

Needless to say, Jacklyn was overjoyed that Gakushuu agreed to spend the summer (or at least part of it) with her. While she refused to tell Gakushuu where she would be spending the summer (certainly not in Tokyo on the off chance of running into Gakuhou) (that would be a disaster neither of them wanted) Gakushuu was excited at the thought of being able to get her opinion on his… problem. She was far more skilled than Gakushuu as well as having much more magical prowess. She did teach him almost everything he knows after all. But until then, Gakushuu had roughly four months to get back to his timeline on his own. All things considered, he’s lucky that he just appeared in his old body rather than as his eighteen-year-old self. He could avoid any confrontations with himself and fuck up the timeline even more. 

Several days later, there was an explosion at Yanagisawa Labs. Yukimura Aguri dies. A few days later, Gakuhou and Gakushuu go to her funeral. 

“Wasn’t she engaged?” Gakushuu asks his father, scanning the small crowd. 

“Yes. To Yanagisawa Kotarou.” 

“Of Yanagisawa Labs.” Gakushuu bites his lip. “That still explains why she was there the night of the explosion.” Gakuhou looks down at Gakushuu, noting how the boy has a calculating look in his eyes like he’s trying to solve a mystery. “Still doesn’t explain how she died,” he mutters. 

“What do you mean by that?” Gakushuu blinks, having forgotten his father was there. 

“She was impaled by a sort of javelin, not crushed under debris like was said.”

“How do you know that?” 

“I looked at the autopsy report.” Gakuhou raises an eyebrow. “Don’t look at me like that. It was ridiculously easy to access. Besides, I was curious.” 

“Should I be concerned that you are hacking into computers because of this curiosity?” 

“You can’t blame me. I know you were curious too.” At Gakuhou’s silent  _ how? _ Gakushuu sighs. “You mentioned how she could have become a good teacher given a few years. It seems rather anti-climatic that she would be crushed under falling rubble.” 

“Your curiosity will get you killed one day.” 

“‘Curiosity killed the cat but satisfaction brought it back.’ Would you cry at my funeral, Principal?” 

“Of course not. Your mother might.” 

“Somehow, I doubt she’d even attend if you were there.” Gakushuu shoves his hands into his pockets and scans the crowd once again. “Excuse me.” He walks away from Gakuhou who raises an eyebrow at him. Gakushuu walks up to the grave where a figure is standing alone. A girl with long, dark, wavy hair is staring at the grave silently. 

“She liked wearing ridiculous shirts. I always made fun of her for them but now…” 

“Yukimura Akari-san, correct?” The girl looks at Gakushuu. Her hazel eyes are red and puffy. 

“Yes?” 

“Asano Gakushuu. I would offer my condolences but I have a feeling you are tired of hearing those words.” 

Akari smiles. “You’re absolutely correct. Did you know her well?” 

“I can’t say I did. I attend the same school she taught at but I was never in her class.” He doesn’t mention how she taught the outcasts of his father’s system, he had a feeling she already knew. “I did run into her a couple of times on campus, however. Her fashion taste was… interesting, to say the least.” 

Akari laughs. “Well, thank you for offering your not condolences. I appreciate it.” 

“You’re welcome Yukimura-san.” Akari nods and walks away. Gakushuu drops his smile in favor of a slight frown that he directs at the sky. By his calculations, Akari should apply to Kunugigaoka and break his father’s laptop within the next few days. He silently thanks Karma for telling him the whole story of class 3-E. Gakuhou walks up behinds him. “Just offering my condolences.” 

“Who was that?” 

“Her sister, I believe.” Gakuhou hums. “Are we leaving now? I have to study for Watanabe-sensei’s pop test. By the way, tell her to be more subtle about those, it’s obvious when she’s planned one.” Gakuhou hides his amusement as they walk back to the car. 

* * *

Weeks later, Gakushuu is walking to school once more, his headphones in his ears, and writing in a notebook. He passes by a konbini where he sees a blonde woman being harassed by three men. He takes out his headphones and shoves them in his pocket before stepping up to the group. 

“Please, let me go. I have to go to my new job!” The woman is saying. 

“Ah, they can wait-” 

“Excuse me.” The men turn around surprised when Gakushuu speaks up, the woman also looks surprised and vaguely annoyed. “You’re making a fuss. Please leave her alone.” 

“Keep moving boy, wouldn’t want you to get hurt.” 

“Hah?” One of the men, the one wearing a gaudy leopard-print blazer, exclaims. “Who do you think you are kid?” 

Gakushuu looks them up and down then sighs. “Have you any taste? Leopard-print? Really?” 

The one with the gaudy blazer growls. “You’re asking for it, kid.” He raises his first and darts towards Gakushuu who easily side steps. Next thing he knows, all three men are shoved into the car and said car is wrapped in wrapping paper. Gakushuu raises an eyebrow. The octopus, in a human disguise, is standing next to the care. Subtle. Very subtle. (Note the sarcasm.)

“Are you all right?” He (they?) asks the woman. 

“Thank you! I owe you one!” The woman latches onto the octopus’s ‘arm’. “You were amazing! I’ll never forget what you’ve done for me! By the way… do you know how to get to Kunugigaoka Junior High?” 

Before they can leave, Gakushuu clears his throat. The lady turns back and her expression turns annoyed once more. “Jelavíc Irina-san, correct?” 

“Um, yes? Do I know you?” 

“Not yet. My name is Asano Gakushuu, the Principal will undoubtedly like to see you before you go to your classroom?” 

“You’re the principal’s son?” The octopus exclaims, immediately rushing over and attempting to pamper him. “Please tell him I’d like a raise, it’s so hard to live off a teacher’s salary!” 

Gakushuu fake-laughs and smiles. “I will inform him. Jelavíc-san, you wouldn’t mind if I accompanied you to the Principal’s office? I have something to speak to him about.” 

Irina’s eyes clearly said she did mind but instead, she smiles. “Of course not. Thank you.” They have a short staring contest before Gakushuu closes his eyes and smiles once more. 

“Shall we?” 

* * *

Gakushuu leads Irina to the Principal’s office and knocks on the door. Without waiting for an acknowledgment, Gakushuu opens the doors and enters. 

“Yes, please just enter my office,” Gakuhou says dryly, not bothering to look up as Gakushuu is the only person who would do such a thing. 

“I knocked and gave you plenty of time to look like you were doing something productive.” Gakushuu smiles pleasantly at Gakuhou who smiles sharply back. Irina looks a bit confused at the interaction. “I brought the new teacher.” 

Gakuhou looks behind him to Irina. “Of course. Asano-” 

“I was just leaving.” Gakushuu pauses at the doorway and looks back. “By the way, Mom said she would  _ love _ to have dinner when she’s in town again.” 

A look of fear crosses Gakuhou’s face and he frowns at his son. “Don’t lie.”

Gakushuu smiles and leaves. Irina looks confused and slightly scared to be left alone with an annoyed Principal.

* * *

Needless to say, Jacklyn did not  _ currently _ want to have dinner with Gakuhou (much to his relief) (you can’t argue with her when she wants to do something, a trait which Gakushuu inherited) however, she did meet up with Gakushuu on the school trip to Kyoto. She ambushed him at the train station, pulling him into a tight hug and ruffling his hair. 

“Shuu! It’s been so long!” 

“Mom! Let go!” Gakushuu struggled against her, fighting a blush as she messed up his hair and smoldered him in kisses, leaving lipstick marks on his cheeks. “People are watching!” 

“Who’s that?” 

“She’s hot.” 

“Is Asano-kun related to her?” 

Even the End class had stopped to stare (and hide their laughs) at poor Gakushuu who looked annoyed and was trying to tame his hair. 

Jacklyn just swung her arm around his shoulders, ignoring the student’s whispers, and sent a dazzling smile to one of the teacher chaperones. “You don’t mind if I take Shuu for a while?” 

“I-I don’t think you’re allowed to-” The poor teacher stuttered looking scared by the tall blonde. 

“Ah, of course, give me a moment.” She whips out her phone and Gakushuu bites back a grin as she dials the Principal’s number. She puts him on speakerphone with a wink to Gakushuu. 

“Yes?” The Principal’s voice sounds through the speaker and the teacher looks like he’s accepted his death. 

“Hey, Gakuhou! Long time, no see, huh?” The line goes silent for a long time and Gakushuu images his father frozen and staring at the screen. “Gaku-chan?” 

“I thought I told you not to call me that,” he says quietly. The teacher’s soul has ascended and the students are all quiet in fear of the Principal finding out they’re listening in. Karma has snuck closer and is fighting a laugh. 

“Why not? It’s cute. Besides, you didn’t argue years ago.” The Principal is silent and Gakushuu vaguely wonders if he’s gone on mute to scream. “Anywho, I’m taking Shuu.” 

“I thought you were in France.” 

“Well, I’m in Kyoto now!” 

“Why?” 

“Huh?” 

“You said you weren’t coming to Japan until July.”

“Ah, well… I missed Shuu! I hardly get to see him anymore! Why didn’t you tell me he looks like a miniature clone of you?” Gakushuu glares at her and she smiles at him. 

Gakuhou lets out a barely audible sigh. “Do as you wish, just get him home before school resumes.” 

“Of course! I’ll drop him off personally!” 

“You… really don’t have to.” 

“I do, does Tamako-san still make killer soba?” 

“Mom,” Gakushuu mutters. 

“Oh, right! We should probably go, I’ll bring you a souvenir!” 

“Please don’t.” 

“Bye-bye!” She ends the call with a flourish. “Right then.” She smiles at the teacher. “I’ll be taking Shuu for now.” 

“R-right.” The teacher leads the rest of class A away, classes B, C, and D quickly following suit. Only class E stays. 

Jacklyn whispers in his ear, “I want to talk to the cute one in the tracksuit.” 

Gakshuu stares up at his mother in horror. “She’s half your age.” 

“Age is just a number,” Jacklyn waves him off and approaches Irina, saying something in Russian, leaving a slightly, pouty Gakushuu behind to attempt to make himself presentable. Class E quickly decided the conversation between the two women isn’t interesting as they cannot understand it, and turns their attention to Gakushuu who has, by then, tamed his hair enough to make it presentable without a mirror and whipped off the lipstick marks. He has his hands shoved deep into his pockets and is staring at the map of the train system, attempting to translate the fast-paced Russian being spoken. He only manages to get the gist of the conversation, something about an octopus, probably the one who calls himself Koro-sensei, before Karma makes his way over to him. 

“Well, well, well, if it isn’t Seitokaicho?” 

“Akabane,” Gakushuu greets with a cool smile. 

“I didn’t think you would be the type to ditch, especially on a school trip.” Karma has a condescending smirk on his face as he leans forward. 

“I don’t think it could be counted as ditching if the Principal allows it,” Gakushuu says, running his hand through his hair and wincing slightly as his fingers snag on a knot. His hair is getting long, he should cut it. 

Karma’s eyes narrow. “Who’s the lady?” 

“Why does it matter?” 

“Well, I think I should know who’s flirting with our English teacher.” 

Gakushuu sighs before muttering something in Latin that none of the E class students catch. “I apologize for her behavior.” 

“Well, who is she?” 

Gakushuu looks at Karma before turning his gaze back to the map. “Asano Jacklyn, my  _ wonderful _ mother,” he says sarcastically. 

“The Principal sounds scared of her,” one of the students, Shiota Nagisa, says. 

Gakushuu lets a slight smirk cross his face. “Of course he is.” 

“What do you mean by that?” This time it’s a girl with green hair who speaks up. Kayano Kaede, or Yukimura Akari if he recalls Karma’s story correctly. If she didn’t want to be recognized, she really should have worn contacts, hazel eyes are relatively rare in Japan. (Honestly, he was one to talk. He had  _ purple _ eyes.) 

Gakushuu lets his eyes glint and a few students shiver. “She is the only person who’s ever beaten him at something.” That something being magic. And if she cheated, Jacklyn could probably kick his ass if she wanted to. 

“Spreading rumors about me?” Jacklyn is walking back to the group, behind her, Irina and Karasuma argue in low voices. 

“Nothing that isn’t true,” he responds. 

Jacklyn smirks and class E suddenly sees how the two are related. “Is this about how I kicked Gakuhou’s ass at basketball?” 

“Did you really beat the Principal?” Another E class student asks. 

“Of course I did! And I could do it again. I was on my college’s basketball team after all.” Gakushuu had forgotten about that. “The old man wouldn’t put up much of a fight now anyways.” 

Gakushuu hides his laugh behind a cough and Jacklyn winks at him. “I don’t think he’d appreciate you calling him an old man.” 

“You won’t tell him,” she looks around at the other students, “right?” They all nod quickly. Jacklyn smiles and claps her hand. “All right! So I talked it over with your senseis and Shuu and I will be joining you for part of this trip. I’ve never been to Kyoto before and from what I’ve been told, you’re all pretty familiar with the area, so you’ll have to show me around.” 

Gakushuu sighs. “This is going to be a long week.” Karma, being the only person close enough to hear him, shoots him a glare. “Don’t blame me when she suddenly gets us all banned from Kyoto for life.” Karma bites back a laugh and Gakushuu hides his smile. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> seitokaicho means student council president btw
> 
> okay so i may have made jacklyn for the sole purpose of annoying the shit out of gakuhou but you didn't hear that from me. i'm sorry gakuhou, you have to deal with so much shit in this fic (not really sorry). so i'm trying to add more 3-e & gakushuu interactions so that will show up in the next chapter probably as well as a chat with jacklyn. anyways, i plan to update this as often as possible and when i get the motivation to do so (motivation is often an endangered species in my life). school does start in two weeks for me so i'll probably be updating less often this next week bc i have to finish all my summer homework i put off until last minute (procrastination. yay) so depending on my workload i might update once or twice a week? who knows. i certainly dont
> 
> i love reading everyone's comments. they really inspire me to write more so please, what are your thoughts? i don't have much planned so let me know if theres anything you want me to try and incorperate. 
> 
> my [tumblr](https://sleepingincemeteries13.tumblr.com) is always open to any comments if you don't want to say them here.


	3. Magic, an onsen, and a slight gay crisis.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> featuring gakushuu's slight gay crisis

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> slight trigger warning for this chapter: mild panic attack.  
> starts at "Karma’s eyebrows could disappear into his hairline at this point." and ends at "I didn’t mean to lose control."  
> disclaimer: i don't have much experience with panic attacks..... :\ sorry if seems unrealistic.

Gakushuu was not entirely thrilled about spending his time with class E in their traditional-styled inn, but he didn’t say anything because if he did his mother might actually kill him. It was, however, amusing to watch the End class and Koro-sensei drop all pretenses of being a normal classroom when they forgot that Gakushuu technically wasn’t supposed to know. He vaguely wondered how no one noticed before. Probably because he was a stupid fourteen-year-old. Now he’s considering all the ways he could blackmail both his father and the Ministry of Defense. Probably not a good thing to be thinking about, but he is Gakuhou’s child so… 

He takes a sip of the cheap canned coffee he grabbed from a vending machine as the students attempt to stab Koro-sensei who looks worn out from the travel. Jacklyn disappeared a little while ago on the claim of a phone call. He wondered for a moment if that was true and then decided he didn’t want to know if it wasn’t. Kanzaki is searching through her bag for her itinerary and Gakushuu frowns slightly as he remembers what happens tomorrow (according to Karma, of course. And he’s not always a reliable source). He would have to follow them tomorrow and maybe prevent Kayano and Kanzaki from being kidnapped and the inevitable trauma that would come from that. There’s definitely something that says not to mess with the timeline as to not cause the end of the world but he’s already deviating from what happened last time so he might as well go all in. 

He hides his smiles behind his drink as he walks away and turns the corner, stopping short as he sees Karma leaning against the wall. He pushes away memories. 

“You knew about Koro-sensei before today. How?” Karma says, not bothering with small talk.

Gakushuu blinks in fake surprise. “What do you mean?” 

“Don’t lie.” 

Gakushuu tilts his head up to mimic Karma’s usual posture of looking down on others just to annoy him. “You really think I don’t know what goes on at Kunugigaoka?” Karma scowls. “Besides, you really aren’t that subtle. The assembly for one. You weren’t there but you’ve undoubtedly heard about how Koro-sensei gave E class all copies of the papers needed as well as how Jelavíc attempted to kill him in front of the entire student body. Two girls were also showing off their decorated knife sheathes. You should be thankful that everyone else is oblivious.” 

There’s a gust of wind and Koro-sensei appears next to the two boys. “Asano-kun! I heard that you are going to be joining in on my students’ assassination attempts!” 

Gakushuu blinks once, surprised by the creature’s speed despite having heard about it. “I wasn’t aware of that. Did my mother say that?” 

His face turns red with a circle inside. “Correct! She’s very smart and pretty.” Gakushuu deadpans at the octopus. “I can see a lot of her in you.” 

“How strange,” Gakushuu hums, smiling and closing his eyes. “People normally say I take after the Principal.” 

“Well, I’m sure they haven’t met Asano-san. Although, I am curious about one thing.” Gakushuu tilts his head as a sign for him to continue. “Why does she not live with you?” 

“My parents, er, she and the Principal divorced when I was little,” he waves his hand, silently cursing his mistake that he knows doesn’t go unnoticed by either Koro-sensei or Karma. “She travels a lot for her job, so I don’t get to see her often.” 

“How sad!” Gakushuu raises an eyebrow as Koro-sensei starts crying. “Mother and child separated from a young age!” 

“Not really, we talk-” 

“The child left with a cold and emotionally-distant father-” 

“I wouldn’t say that-” 

“-who abuses him, insisting that he be first at everything-” 

“That’s actually my own choice. And the Principal doesn’t abuse me-” Gakushuu’s eye twitches as Karma’s eyebrows disappear into his bangs. 

“-doesn’t even call him by his own name-” 

“-it’s a professional relationship-” 

“-is so caught up in his past-”

Gakushuu eyes flash in anger and he grabs Karma’s gun from where it was hidden in his waistband causing the redhead to shout with a slight blush. He expertly fires several rounds at the octopus who dodges and continues talking. 

“-that he doesn’t care at all for his own son-” 

“Taceo!” Koro-sensei shuts up as Gakushuu’s magic lashes out at the word. Karma’s eyebrows could disappear into his hairline at this point. “Shitshitshit. Loquere.” 

Jacklyn miraculously shows up at that point and sighs upon seeing Gakushuu freaking out and tugging at his hair. She untangles his hand from his hair and takes the gun and hands it back to a shocked Karma. Koro-sensei for once is silent and still. “Shuu,” she mutters. “It’s fine.” 

“It’s not fine. People saw. They know. Oh fuck, it’ll be the witch trials all over again.” 

“No one’s going to burn you, Shuu.” 

“He’ll find out, he’ll know and he’ll hate me.” 

“He won’t. He’s in Tokyo.” 

“Fuckfuckfuck.” Gakushuu presses his back against the wall and sinks down. “He’s not supposed to know.” Gakushuu feels his magic lashing out, wild and uncontained, just as it had been when he was first learning to control it. Jacklyn curses in Latin and riffles through her bag before pulling out a necklace with a charm on it. She kneels down and clasps it around his neck, dampening Gakushuu’s magic slightly. 

“Dammit. Damn me.” 

“May I?” Jacklyn looks up at Koro-sensei in surprise. 

“I doubt you’ll be able to much but go ahead,” she leans back on her heels as Koro-sensei’s tentacle moves to press a pressure point on the side of Gakushuu’s neck. He inhales sharply and looks up. 

“ _I-I’m sorry_ .” He says in English. “ _I didn’t mean to lose control._ ” He bows his head down and wraps his arms around his knees. 

“ _It was going to happen eventually. Honestly, I’m surprised it took this long._ ” Jacklyn says ruffles his hair. “ _The shock took a while to set in. You used it before, correct?_ ” 

“ _I was trying to get back then I unlocked your trunk_.” 

“ _Magic used on other people always feels different. And still aren’t adjusted to this time, correct?_ ” 

“I’m supposed to be taller,” Gakushuu mutters with a pout and Jacklyn throws back her head and laughs. 

“Of all the things to focus on, you chose that?” 

“I was taller than Dad- the Principal.” Jacklyn snorts. “From 184 centimeters to 175 centimeters is a huge difference!” Jacklyn struggles to gain her breath at the offended look on Gakushuu’s face. 

“I’m… so confused,” Karma mutters. 

Jacklyn sobers up immediately and looks at Gakushuu. “Should I?” 

“Yeah, give me a minute though.” 

“What are you talking about?” Karma asks. 

“They’re going to wipe our memories of this incident,” Koro-sensei says, his usual smile on his face, contradicting his serious tone. 

“What? You can’t do that!” Karma exclaims. 

“Obliviscor,” Jacklyn says firmly as Gakushuu stands up, tucking the necklace under his shirt collar. Karma’s eyes glaze over for a moment before he blinks and shakes his head. “Hi, Akabane Karma, right?” Jacklyn sticks out her hand. Karma looks very confused but nods and shakes her hand. 

“That’s me.” 

“Nice to meet you. You don’t mind if I steal Shuu for a while?” 

“Not at all Asano-san!” Koro-sensei says. 

“Please, just call me Jacklyn. Asano is my ex-husband’s name.” 

“That you chose to keep,” Gakushuu mutters under his breath. Not breaking eye contact with the octopus, Jacklyn cuffs him on the back of the head. Gakushuu scowls. 

“We’ll be going now, bye!” Jacklyn smiles, grabbing Gakushuu’s collar and practically dragging him away. Gakushuu resigns himself to the torture and takes a sip of a can of coffee he pulled from his pocket. Karma watches them go, his expression somewhere between confusion and amusement. 

The duo leaves the hotel and wanders the streets of Kyoto before finding a busy coffee shop to sit at. Gakushuu orders a coffee, Jacklyn a slice of cake and a tea, and they sit down at a table. Jacklyn casts a small muffling spell so their words became slightly muted to everyone else, if they were entirely muted, it’d be a bit suspicious. They sip their drinks for a few moments before Jacklyn sighs. 

“Alright, I want to hear the whole story.” 

“The whole story?” 

“Yes.” 

“The last four years.” 

“A summary is fine.” 

So Gakushuu sighs, setting down his cup and running his fingers around the rim. “I’m from the future, but you already know that. My timeline… it’s pretty much the exact same except for I didn’t learn about magic until next year. I found your old books in the attic and a few days later, you showed up to our house with trunk-fulls of grimoires and various items for magic. You taught me magic. Then you left after saying that I could teach myself the rest and to find a familiar.” 

Jacklyn winces. “That was definitely a mistake. But have you found a familiar yet?” 

“No.” 

“You should. You can’t be a full-fledged witch without one. Did I at least leave my books.” 

“Yeah. Then a few months before I first came here, my… ex-boyfriend-” 

“You’re gay?” Jacklyn freezes, her fork halfway to her mouth. The cake on it falls off and Gakushuu bites back a smile. 

He waves off the question. “Doesn’t matter. He mentioned-” 

“What do you mean it doesn’t matter?” Gakushuu winces as Jacklyn’s pitch rises and a few customers look over in confusion, a testament to how loud she was. 

“I’m bisexual, actually, and technically, I’ve already come out to you.” 

“Does Gakuhou, this Gakuhou, know?” 

Gakushuu winces. “Of course not. He didn’t know until Ka- my ex kissed me in front of him. He locked himself in his office for days looking up what to do when your child comes out as gay.” 

Jacklyn laughs. “That’s such a Gakuhou thing to do. Why do you keep referring to this mystery boy as your ex, did you break up?” 

“The whole time-travel thing might as well have,” Gakushuu mutters, slumping over and taking another sip of his coffee. 

“Oh, do you know him now? Well, when you were in middle school the first time.” Gakushuu doesn’t verbally answer but his silence causes Jacklyn to smile. “You do! Oh my god, you still have a crush on him!” 

“Of course I do! He’s-” Gakushuu cuts off, blushes as red as Karma’s hair, and ducks his head to hide behind his bangs. “Can we _please_ change the subject?” 

Jacklyn waves her fork in the air, a bit of cake hits someone the table over. “Oops, sorry- yeah, yeah. But,” she jabs the fork at Gakushuu who leans back in his seat slightly, “we’re talking about this later.” 

Gakushuu mentally curses but agrees. “Anyways, he mentioned time travel and I got to thinking, was it really possible?” 

“It obviously is, I mean, you’re walking-sitting-proof.” 

“I didn’t know at the time though.” 

“Why didn’t you ask me? I could have told you.” Gakushuu freezes before groaning into his hands. 

“Fuck. I’m an idiot.” 

Jacklyn giggles. “Yep.” 

Gakushuu glares at her. “I _obviously_ didn’t ask you. The night before I woke up in the past, Dad, erm, the Principal and I were drinking-” 

“He lets you drink?” 

“I’m technically eighteen.” 

“That’s still underage.” 

“In Japan.” 

“Good point, good point. Continue.” 

“I got drunk and went to my room and drunk me decided to work on my little time travel project. I apparently got _something_ right because I passed out and woke up in the past, what would have been a later. I don’t know why I was passed out for that long though.” 

Jacklyn is silent for a moment before sighing. “You really are an idiot. You know about the stamina drain, right?” Gakushuu shakes his head. “Really? Huh, that’s weird. Whatever, whenever you use a spell you drain a bit of your stamina. Small spells like lock picking and similar stuff don’t drain as much as large spells like speed or strength enhancement. You’re unlikely to notice the drain of small spells because you have a lot of magical power and stamina, but if Gakuhou were to do the same spell, he’d notice the drain. Thank me for your abilities kid.” 

“Thank you.”

“So the time travel spell obviously required a huge amount of stamina and since you were drunk at the time, you had less physical stamina, so it drained you of both your magical and physical stamina. It likely took you a day to recover both, something your body does naturally through things like sleep.” 

“You keep talking about physical and magical stamina. What’s the difference?” 

“Physical stamina, well it’s related to physical ability. It’s just called stamina for normal humans. On the other hand, magical stamina relates to your magical ability. If you have higher magical ability, your magic is harder to control, like you know, and the amount the spells you can do increases. It’s kinda like how if you’re physically fit, you can do more stuff like basketball or football, the same applies to magic. That’s why it’s harder to get spells right when you’re just beginning. Also why a lot of witches use crutches like wands.” 

“But we don’t.” 

“Exactly. As you know, I come from a pure witching family that prides itself in its magical prowess and ability to perform spells without the use of a crutch.” 

Gakushuu covers his mouth, thinking. “So what you’re saying is, I became completely drained of stamina and had to recover it by sleeping.” 

“Yes. Stuff high in sugar and caffeine is just a temporary fix or boost. That’s why you’re often more tired after days of little to no sleep.” Their coffee and tea have long since gone cold and the sun is beginning to set. Most of the patrons have left, only an elderly couple and college student studying at a booth remains. 

Gakushuu downs the last of his coffee. “Thank you. Shall we go?” 

Jacklyn nods and stands. “Let’s go. I heard that we were going to an onsen tonight.” 

“Huh? That wasn’t on the schedule,” Gakushuu says, following her out of the shop with a nod to the waitress on duty. 

“Not on the main campus’s schedule, no. Class E’s.” Jacklyn has a devilish smile on her face and Gakushuu scowls, knowing he’s not getting out of this. 

* * *

Gakushuu has a slight frown on his face as he leans his head back against one of the rocks surrounding the onsen. He stares up at the sky, slightly polluted, thinking. With a sigh, he closes his eyes and sinks down in the water so his nose disappears slightly below the surface. He ignores the rest of class E as they enter, quieting down once they see him. 

“Ne, Asano.” He opens one eye when he hears his name. He fights a blush at the almost completely naked Karma sitting a little ways away from him next to Shiota. “Why are you here? Shouldn’t you be with the elites of class A?” 

Gakushuu sits up so his face is no longer underwater and tugs his hand through his hair. “My mother wanted to stay and I couldn’t argue with her.” 

“Mommy’s boy?” Class E titters as Gakushuu scowls slightly at Karma. 

“Feel free to argue with her. Just let me know when so I can watch you die.” The End class laughs nervously at that. 

“Karma-kun, you shouldn’t-” Karma brushes off Nagisa. Mercury eyes glare at impassive amethyst ones. 

“Let’s not start a fight, guys.” Reliable Isogai. Karma lets out a tsk but backs down. Gakushuu exhales and sits up more, pushing his bangs out of his eyes again. 

“I need a haircut,” he mutters, inaudible to everyone else. 

“Whoa, you have a tattoo?” Maehara exclaims. Gakushuu blinks before looking down at his torso were, right above his right hip, sits a faded abjuration circle. He frowns and puts his hand over it, effectively covering it. It will be gone in a few days. He needs to draw on another one. 

“I didn’t expect that the Principal’s son would have a tattoo,” Sugino says. 

“Heh,” Terasaka laughs. “He’s just as low as the rest of us.” Gakushuu raises an eyebrow at that but decides to spare himself the effort of deciphering it. 

“It looks like a summoning circle,” Shiota notes. 

“Abjuration circle,” Gakushuu corrects automatically. In unison, the boys’ eyebrows raise. It’s almost creepy. 

“Don’t tell me you actually believe in magic,” Karma laughs. “Hate to break it to you pal, but like Santa,” he leans forward, patronizing, “it isn’t real.” 

Gakushuu frowns before abruptly smiling. Shiota’s eyes widen as he’s abruptly reminded of a wolf stalking its prey. The rest of the boys notice Gakushuu’s sudden bloodlust. 

“Of course. I mean, we’ve all had our phases right?” His bloodlust is gone but Karma’s eyes are narrowed in suspicion. “Mine just happened to leave a more… permanent mark.” 

Silence settles over the onsen. On the other side of the tall wooden wall, they hear the laughter of the girls and the annoyed shouts of Irina. 

“So,” Maehara laughs slightly, “when did you get it?” 

Gakushuu appears to be recalling for a moment when in reality he’s thinking up a suitable lie. “A few years ago I believe.” 

“How did no one notice it before?” Sugaya asks. 

“Concealer,” Gakushuu says simply. The rest of the boys accept his answer and the conversation moves onto different things. Gakushuu sinks back down in the water, watching the other boys joke and laugh. 

“Why didn’t Koro-sensei join us?” 

“Apparently, he makes the water into a sort of Jell-O, so Karasuma-sensei was forced to stay behind and make sure he didn’t try to sneak in.” 

“Oh, so that’s where he is.” 

Gakushuu gets bored quickly and leaves. He showers and dries off. He’s changing back into his clothes when Karma walks in, toweling off his hair. He glances at the red-head briefly before looking away and fighting a blush. 

“I don’t believe you,” Karma says as Gakushuu is struggling to tying his tie and mentally cursing his father for making such an annoying uniform. 

“Hm?” 

“If you really have had that tattoo for a few years, how come no one saw during the swim units in PE?” 

“...concealer?” Gakushuu mutters a curse and tugs his tie off, shoving it into his tie into his pocket. 

Karma slams his hand against the lockers causing Gakushuu to jump and spin around with a scowl on his face. He means to scowl the red-head, but all thoughts race out of his head when he realizes that Karma’s shirt isn’t buttoned and he has a complete view of his bare torso. Admittedly, he has less muscle mass than he does several years in the future but it makes him fight a blush all the same. 

“What is it really?” Karma leans in close and Gakushuu forgets how to breathe. 

“I-” Gakushuu’s voice jumps an octave and he coughs before continuing. “I don’t understand what you’re looking for Ka-Akabane.” He raises an eyebrow. “If you would please step away and let me finished getting dressed, that’d be great.” He smooths down his collar and undoes the top button as he says this, he doesn’t need it if he isn’t wearing his tie. Karma’s face turns as red as his face and he steps away. “Thank you.” Gakushuu turns around and grabs his jacket and wallet, shoving it into his pocket before slinging his uniform jacket over his shoulder. He glances at Karma who’s fiddling with his buttons before leaving. 

If he has to stay in the same with E class and more specifically, Karma, he might actually snap and kill someone. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so a bit of a magical explanation in this chapter. honestly, i'm just making this stuff up as i go along with the occassional google search for stuff like gakushuu's abjuration circle. for those who don't know, one of the things it can do is limit magical power. gakushuu has been drawing them on himself so that the other witches don't notice he's there as in this world (? i guess?? idk) each witch leaves almost a magical scent trail that other witches can sense. so my whole system will probably be explained in full in a later chapter, so stick around for that i suppose.
> 
> side note, i lowkey wish we could physically go back to school. i have a bunch of classes with my friends this year and i probably won't be able to see them at all bc we'll probably spend the entire year doing online learning. i miss tech. we got nothing done but it was still fun. the reason why this chapter is so late is i've been stressing about school for the past few days. i have another week but i still have to finish an essay for my summer reading project and a whole other book, so the next chapter might not be out for a while. i also hit a minor writers block on this chapter. and as always, it was impulsive writing (i really don't have a plot for this...) and minor editing so there's probably some mistakes. 
> 
> thank you for all the support so far!!! it makes me really happy to see everyone's comments. the kyoto arc will probably go on for another chapter or two (so far its a grand total of two chapters more than I expected) then we'll probably fast forward to finals and summer where i have a couple things planned. i hope you keep reading! 
> 
> [Tumblr](https://sleepingincemeteries13.tumblr.com)

**Author's Note:**

> please feel free to leave kudos and comments as well as your thoughts. i always love reading them


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